E3 2011 - GN Staff Predictions

We know that every gaming website does E3 predictions each year so this year we decided to do something a little different. Rather than just a generic list of top then things we expect to see we decided to make it a bit more interesting and attach betting odds about the various things we would see at the show this year. Here's what we cam up with. Be sure to leave your thoughts and your predictions in the comments.

Tina Amini

Nintendo will take the proverbial cake in the attention line-up with the reveal of their upcoming console. Nostalgia will run rampant. Lines will amass in gigantic proportions that will rival that of the 3DS' at last year's E3.

Ben Berry

That every interviewer at every appointment with Sony will lead with "So, what are your plans for increasing security on PSN once you get it back up" (yes, I know their current plans are to be done by 5/31)

Nathaniel Cohen

Serious Mass Effect 3 information, complete with a new "winter 2012" release window. It's going up against Skyrim and probably CoD if it sticks to its "Holiday" window. ME2 was at first a "Holiday" release as well, but lost a game of release date chicken to just CoD. CoD + Skyrim = delayed, in my mind.

Jeremy Duff

Nintendo will steal the show with Project Cafe, everyone in attendance will be back on the Nintendo bandwagon... at least for now

Charles Husemann

This turns out to be one of the strongest E3’s in years. We’ve got two new platforms (NGP, Project Cafe) and one of the better line-ups of software in Uncharted 3, Batman:Arkham City, Gears of War 3, Resistance 3, and a bevy of other announced or unannounced games.

Dan Keener

While it is easy to pick out the new Nintendo console, I think it is a near certainty that Sony will be putting a major push behind the NGP and Xperia Play and de-emphasizing the PS3 at the show. After the PSN fiasco and ill-advised PSPGo, Sony needs to hit a homerun with their new handhelds and will come out with guns blazing to build buzz among the gaming journalists and fanboys alike.

Matt Mirkovich

Nintendo will disappoint me with a line-up of games that will not contain Fatal Frame 4 (even though I already played the English fan-translation hack), or The Last Story. Project Cafe will be their big push along with new 3DS titles.

Sean Nack

Nintendo announces new console, is only moderately impressive; Sony mentions but takes little to no responsibility for PSN failure.

Peter Skerritt

Sony announces a price drop for the PlayStation 3, likely $50 off the 160GB SKU. The timing makes sense, especially in the wake of the PSN intrusion and with a Wii price drop in May. The 320GB SKU may follow suit and become the new standard.

John Yan

Nintendo comes out the big winner at E3. Let's face it, any one of the big three announcing a new console's going to be garnering a lot of attention. The fact that they'll have it playable there as well makes Nintendo's booth the one that's going to be seeing long, long lines and large crowds. I'm sure we'll get a ton of stories on how great the new console is going to be just from the hype of the scene alone. Might as well just pencil in Nintendo garnering the most news this year.

Tina Amini

Sony will be fending off people's desire to fan the flames of a potentially growing, scathing scandal in conjunction with the security debacle.

Ben Berry

Likelihood that Nintendo will present a nice new console that leapfrogs the current generation offerings from Sony and MS, and only catches up to it in others. They will also completely screw themselves in naming it again.

Nathaniel Cohen

GTA V reveal, will be set in San Andreas with possible Hispanic, female, or gay protagonist (or maybe all three). R* likes to push the envelope with their protagonists, so we can't just go back to a something they've done before, can we?

Jeremy Duff

Microsoft reveals its plans for its next generation of hardware

Charles Husemann

Microsoft unveils new Kinect games aimed squarely at the core gamer. Sure we’ve see Gunslinger but there’s a Kinect Steel Batallion out there somewhere. It will also be interesting to see how far the Star Wars Kinect game has advanced since it was shown last year. Last year’s game wasn’t that impressive once you got past the “OMG STAR WARS KINECT” and realized it was an paper thin on rails experience. Wouldn’t be too surprised to see an Alan Wake Kinect game as the rumors of that are heating up and we might finally see the Gears of War Kinect game that people have been chirping around for a while.

Dan Keener

I think we will finally see a thawing of some of the artists when it comes to digital music. While I don’t expect to find an Kid Rock DLC anytime soon for Rock Band, I do think that an expanded catalog from the likes of Styx, Def Leppard, The Beach Boys and the debut of tracks from U2, Prince and Pink Floyd (among others).

Matt Mirkovich

Battlefield 3 will be playable on the show floor, with Beta dates announced.

Sean Nack

Microsoft's line-up is bizarrely fantastic. I wasn't that impressed last year, and I'm hoping this year is going to be software heavy.

Peter Skerritt

Pricing for Nintendo's new console will exceed $300 for the first time in the company's history. This is a risky proposition for Nintendo, given that the economy is still struggling and this price range might be tough to justify, but Nintendo never takes losses on hardware and all signs point to some pretty strong stuff under the hood.

John Yan

We'll get a good view of the next Call of Duty game from Activision. They did just announce that the next one is coming finally and to be released in November, but I think we'll see a good video montage and even some gameplay being demonstrated at Activision's booth.

Tina Amini

Microsoft finally reveals new Kinect titles that don't just involve fitness, sports and dancing. There have been a lot of rough ideas and even videos floating around on the Internet, but nothing substantial that can hold its weight against core titles. Microsoft has been promising that high level developers have been keeping their eye on the Kinect, so this might be the year that we finally see something more tangible come from that promise.

Ben Berry

Chance that some new development house that no one has ever heard of will be the surprise big hit of the show and sign with a publisher before the end of the first day.

Nathaniel Cohen

Wii2 unveiled, is still less powerful than a pocket calculator, internet collapses under the weight of every gamer on Earth simultaneously posting face-palm gifs and 4chan troll faces. Where did these rumors of an uber-powerful Wii2 come from? When has processing power ever been a priority at Nintendo? Now that AAA games that take advantage of such CPU horsepower are incredibly expensive to produce (if you're concerned with sales and quality, that is), it just seems less likely to me that Nintendo would be willing to engage in such an arms race.

Jeremy Duff

Sony reveals further details of the Welcome Back PSN program which will involve amends to not only gamers, but developers and publishers who felt the impact of the outing as well

Charles Husemann

Sony makes a surprise comeback at E3. I know you’re laughing at me know but another grand gesture of apology coupled with Resistance 3, Uncharted 3, and a new God of War game would go along way to helping people forget about the PSN debacle. Throw in the Last Guardian and I think they’ve got an outside shot to steal Nintendo’s thunder.

Dan Keener

Even though the music game genre has taken a self-imposed hiatus, there are two major powerhouse bands that could support a full-fledged Rock Band release such as Rock Band: The Beatles. Whether or not Harmonix can come up with the money (or clout) it would take to get either The Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin to sign on the dotted line remains to be seen. However, both groups have an appeal to a large cross-section of fans, so the time is now to create a standalone title.

Matt Mirkovich

Sony will address concerns about their security breach during their press conference. Kevin Butler will have a rousing speech to follow. Shadow of the Colossus/Ico HD and The Last Guardian are given firm release dates.

Sean Nack

Ubisoft steals the show with new Rainbow 6 title (i can dream, people).

Peter Skerritt

EA announces their subscription program for their EA Sports division, which covers the 2012 year (starting with NCAA Football 12) and should include at least some DLC as part of the package. Sadly, this is more evidence that the industry expects consumers to pay more than $60 per game.

John Yan

Microsoft takes a few jabs at Sony's down network at their press conference. You know Microsoft's eating it up and I'm guessing we'll hear a little joke or two on the situation that Sony's going through.

Tina Amini

Microsoft announces a new generation of console to be in the works. It's true that they specifically announced no plans for a future console, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't holding the announcement off for E3. It makes perfect sense to hold the bigger news for a convention of this size, particularly with it being just around the corner to these rumors hitting the mill.

Ben Berry

Chance that Tina will get her hat.

Nathaniel Cohen

Wii2 unveiled, HD capable on par with Xbox 360, internet still collapses. Because if it's not the greatest thing ever it must be the worst thing ever, right? Thanks internet trolls.

Jeremy Duff

Activision not only shows off MW3, but announced Black Ops 2 for 2012

Charles Husemann

Nintendo new console gets a ton of third party support. Third party developers are just now learning to master the current generation of hardware and I don’t see them devoting a lot of time to learn and implement a new control scheme for Nintendo after getting burned by Nintendo on the Wii.

Dan Keener

With the apparent tightening of the reins (once again) on who can or cannot attend E3 as a “journalist”, it would be nice to get an announcement that the show is moving out of L.A. once and for all and taking up permanent residency in Las Vegas. While there are many things to like about L.A., it is expensive, has some distinct logistical issues and seems to primarily benefit the companies and PR firms that have a presence in the city. With PAX Prime and PAX East gaining steam as the conference to attend (and not worry about all of the stringent policies and rules), the ESA could take back their crown jewel, eliminate the under 21 crowd and make the show a destination showpiece by moving it a mere 250 miles to the NW.

Matt Mirkovich

Kinect and Move will have new titles that completely revolutionize gaming the same way the Wii did, and will appeal to core gamers. Square Enix will announce Final Fantasy XIV will become a Free-to-Play with micro-transactions.

Sean Nack

Rockstar announces GTA5 and Agent; Agent looks better.

Peter Skerritt

Microsoft drops a major bombshell during its press event, possibly regarding info on its next console. Microsoft and EA may be denying this, but with such a limited and hand-picked audience in attendance for its press event, something big seems poised to occur.

John Yan

Rockstar will announce or tease Grand Theft Auto V. L.A. Noire's their release this year, but I think they start to generate hype for next year with a tease whether it's at a press conference from one of the big 3 or a small video at 2K Games' booth.

Tina Amini

Sony takes the floor at their press conference and addresses the security breach with: JK WASN'T THAT FUN and reveals their diabolical PR-stunt. This leans toward the 0 percentage.

Ben Berry

That I will win the lottery and make my way out there just to party after hours with the GN staff.

Nathaniel Cohen

Kinect gets some core games revealed that don't look ridiculous. An FPS on Kinect would be cool and all, but who wants to play one by pretending to hold a gun and jabbing it at the screen (which I wouldn't even be able to do without filling the air with annoying "pew pew" noises)?

Jeremy Duff

Both Nintendo and Microsoft take the high road and make absolutely no reference to the PSN outage / debacle (in other words, they will be taking pot-shots left and right)

Charles Husemann

Valve finally gets around to Half Life 2:Episode 3/Half Life Episode 3. Yes I’m bitter but c’mon it’s been almost four years since Episode 2 and it scary to think that we’ll be playing Duke Nukem Forever before finishing the second the Half Life 2 trilogy.

Dan Keener

Microsoft announces that new hardware is on the way. While Kinect has sold well, it hasn’t produced that single bonafied “hit” yet, and until it does, the Xbox 360 still has some legs. Not to mention, Microsoft has used the Consumer Electronics Show as its vehicle for new gaming hardware announcements.

Matt Mirkovich

John will change my password now that Cammie Dunaway no longer works with Nintendo. Ubisoft finally gives information about Beyond Good and Evil 2. Square Enix finally announces that Final Fantasy 7 remake for PS3/4. David Jaffe apologizes for nothing (in Hedonism-bot voice).

Sean Nack

Nintendo has anything of interest to gamers who have a couple decades between themselves and diapers, in either direction.

Peter Skerritt

Bethesda delays Skyrim. Why? November is going to be absolutely packed with software releases and competing against Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 is a tall order. Throw in Uncharted 3 as a PS3 exclusive that consumers are going to want, and there's simply no money left for the average consumer to afford it this year. Granted, this isn't likely... but if it does happen, you can be sure that I'll be proclaiming "I told you so" for weeks.

John Yan

Microsoft announces their successor to the Xbox 360. While I think Microsoft would love to take some thunder away from Nintendo and there are rumors they have the next box out there in some developer hands, I think they'll wait til a later date to even acknowledge it and release information. I think next year is when they go all out on the next Xbox.

Will we be right or wrong? Check back next week to see all of our coverage of the show.

About Author

Hi, my name is Charles Husemann and I've been gaming for longer than I care to admit. For me it's always been about competing and a burning off stress. It started off simply enough with Choplifter and Lode Runner on the Apple //e, then it was the curse of Tank and Yars Revenge on the 2600. The addiction subsided somewhat until I went to college where dramatic decreases in my GPA could be traced to the release of X:Com and Doom. I have been a Microsoft Xbox MVP since 2009.
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